Football and Fashion |

Sir Alex Ferguson believes that football is starting to get popular in the United States with the Manchester United manager expecting a competitive edge on their upcoming matches as they leave Monday for their Chicago training base.

The US was able to hold England to a World Cup draw and Ferguson is convinced that the Major League Soccer standard is better than ever.

Ferguson stated that American soccer is starting to make an impact and that he had commented before the World Cup that the US team were going to play like the athletes that top football players in England are.

He continued to say that this is also the way that American football players are, athletic and fit with a good feel for the pitch.  Ferguson explained that he can see the improvement throughout the MLS and has spoken to many people over the last few months about this fact and seen an upsurge in the excitement around it.

Darren Fletcher, Edwin van der Sar, and Dimitar Berbatov will be travelling to the United States along with many youngsters which include Fulham’s former defender Chris Smalling.

Ferguson added that winning is the challenge in front of the team but at the same time the idea is to get everyone a chance to play so that when they come back they are prepared for the season.

United will play against Philadelphia Union on July 21^st at the Lincoln Financial Field followed by a match in four days at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Wizards.  They will finish out their United States tour in Houston playing the MLS All-Stars on July 28^th.

Manchester United may not have earned a place in the Champions League and will have to scrape to keep their Premier League title, but they still have been able to keep the lead as one of the most valuable clubs globally.

In this year’s Forbes Magazine list of the top twenty football teams, the Old Trafford club held onto top position with a value of £1.19bn, which is a two percent decrease from last year.

England landed seven clubs on the list, although the Premier League is known as the most indebted club league throughout Europe.

Showing up on the list was Arsenal in third, Liverpool in sixth place, Chelsea in ninth, Tottenham Hotspur in 12^th, and near the bottom in 19^th place is Manchester City.

The last team on the list was a surprise as Newcastle United made the list even though they are currently in relegation for the Championship.

Forbes business sports writer, Peter Schwartz, stated that Manchester United deserves a bit of praise for its continual resilience and its place as one of the largest global sporting brands.

Schwartz continued to say that the club has made itself one of the first class brands out of all world sporting brands with great marketing and new kit deals that have helped them continue to hold their status even in the face of the global recession.

Over the last season the twenty most valuable clubs together generated a total of £422m in operating income and combined revenues of £3.57b.

Having paid out on Chelsea as winners of the Premier League on Friday top bookie Paddy Power are this morning facing the prospect of a £500,000 cock-up after Paul Scholes’ last minute winning goal in the Manchester Derby and Spurs unexpected 2-1 win over League leaders Chelsea has thrown the title race open again.

Reacting to yesterday’s results Paddy Power were forced to slash the odds on Manchester United winning the title from 6/1 to 11/8 and pushed Chelsea’s odds from 1/7 to 8/13.

Paddy Power said “I’m guessing it’s far too late to say our early payout on Chelsea was a belated April Fools joke? It looks like the football Gods are conspiring to teach us a very expensive lesson”

Paddy Power has long had a reputation for calling the title first for their punters each season. In the 2005/06 season the bookie correctly crowned Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea the champs as early as September after the London club raced into an unassailable lead. But the bookie hasn’t always got it right.

In 2003 Paddy Power paid out early on Arsenal (with a 12-point lead) as Premiership winners at the start of March. The Gunners surrendered their title with a 3-2 home defeat against Leeds United in the penultimate game of the season effectively handing the title to Manchester United and costing the Bookie a very expensive double payout on the Premiership that season!

LATEST TITLE ODDS

8/13 Chelsea (from 1/7)
11/8 Man Utd (from 6/1)
12/1 Arsenal (from 25/1)

The local field may not be the best place to watch the big match, after last Saturday when Sky screened the Manchester United and Chelsea Premier League game in 3D to over 1,000 pubs.

Those who now cannot score tickets for Old Trafford can instead head the local pub where they can grab 3D glasses and a pint while they watch Didier Drogba rack up the goals

Although the installation of 3D televisions and equipment has been expensive for pubs, the payoff may be large with some already asking customers to reserve viewing space as they anticipate a large amount of excited fans to show up.

Commercial manager at Walkabout, a popular chain of Australian styled pubs, James Mawer said that 35 of their chain pubs will  be screening the next game which is likely going to lead to ticket selling in the future as an increasing amount of people are booking their viewing spots in advance. 

Mawer said that they will continue to gauge the response of customers but early research suggests some will pay up to six or seven pounds to get inside for a 3D match viewing.

Walkabout has been hit hard with the smoking ban and the recession which in turn has also hit many other pubs forcing the Australian bars to close down about 52 last year.  However, Mawer suggested that the 3D football matches may be the key to getting customers back in their doors as the appeal of watching live sports mixed with drinking has never faded away.

Coleen Rooney proved there is life after pregnancy when she showed up at the Manchester Unity charity dinner just a few weeks after giving birth, complete with a stunning figure.

Rooney who is age 23 was the leader of the WAG pack who all made in appearance in either white or black dresses at the annual UNICEG event at Old Trafford.

Although the night was chilly, Rooney still showed off some flesh by choosing to wear a dress with a deep plunging neckline along with high heels.

Rooney made it clear that she was much slimmer now after giving birth to the child with her husband Wayne by choosing to wear the dress which had a cinched waistline.

Despite the fact that the couple left their newborn at home they looked relaxed as they sat down to enjoy the UNICEF HIV prevention fundraiser.

Also in attendance at the fundraiser were Stacey Griffs in a white dress with strappy heels and Patrice Evra’s wife Sandra with a small black dress that left little to the imagination.

Despite their hard work at appearing perfect, the WAGs had a tough time taking the attention away from the question and answer segment that was headed by Ole Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs, and Rio Ferdinand.

Boss of United Sir Alex Ferguson said that this year means something more to the organization since it was their ten year anniversary of working with UNICEF and that they are committed to continue to work with the children’s organization.